With the trade deadline 10 days away, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said he plans to meet with in the coming week (relayed by ). Thatll be an exploratory discu sion to see if the 10-time Gold Glove winner has changed his mind at all regarding a potential trade. Arenado has full no-trade rights and famously invoked that clause to kill an offseason deal that would have sent him to Houston. Arenado reportedly wanted more time to evaluate the Astros direction after theyd traded . Offseason reporting suggested he was only interested in approving a deal to five clubs: the Yankees, Padres, Dodgers, Red Sox and potentially Astros Jean Segura Jersey once he had a better feel for their competitive outlook. Aside from Houston, none of those teams seemed to show much interest. They moved on to signing when Arenado didnt immediately accept a deal. The Red Sox, Dodgers and Padres all have established third basemen. ( is currently on the injured list for L.A., but hes expected back in August and the Dodgers to trade for third base help.) While Houston did just lose to a hamstring strain, theyre within a few million dollars of the luxury tax threshold and are highly unlikely to trade for Arenado. The Yankees absolutely need a third baseman, yet wrote earlier this month that New Yorks front office is concerned about Arenados declining offensive output in his mid-30s. That aligns with reporting from various Yankees beat writers dating back to the offseason which downplayed the teams interest. If Arenados trade preferences are unchanged, its very difficult to see a deal coming together. Thatd probably remain the case even if he were willing to broaden his list of destinations. His bat has declined in three consecutive seasons. Arenado took a .241/.299/.381 slash line into tonights game his worst numbers in a full season since his 2013 rookie year. He is playing on a $32MM salary, $5MM of which is covered by the Rockies. Hell make $27MM next year (again with $5MM paid by Colorado) and $15MM in 2027. In this season and next, $6MM is deferred. Its still a significant sum for a player who looks like a league average hitter at this point, even if he remains a quality defender. Mozeliak acknowledged that as things currently stand, he would envision (Arenado) being a part of this in the future. That reflects the challenges of aligning on a deal, though the front office head added that if something were to pop up, I would definitely discu s it with him. In any case, the Cardinals appear increasingly likely to deal some veteran pieces. Theyre for struggling starting pitcher . Reporting last week indicated they were on impending free agent relievers , and . That was before they got swept by the Diamondbacks in their first series out of the All-Star Break. The NL Central looks to be a two-horse race between the Cubs and Brewers. The Cards have dropped four games behind the Padres for the final Wild Card spot with the Reds and Giants in between them. Theyve gone 4-10 this month (pending the result of tonights game in Colorado). After outperforming expectations for much of the season, theyre hitting a skid right as the time comes for the front office to pick a direction. Mozeliak acknowledged the downward trend, especially the recent sweep, in sounding more amenable to selling. Clearly the weekend was not what we wanted to see, and now weve got to understand what the future looks like, he told reporters (link via ). Where we are in the standings definitely affects our decision-making moving forward at the deadline. Playing those three games and losing all three is not helpful. (We) wanted to come out of the break having a positive start to it. We didnt. As we reflect on whats best for the organization, there is the longer view in terms of: Are there decisions that we can make that will better situate the franchise in 2026 and beyond? The team still has a bit of runway to pull back into the race. They should expect to win the series against the Rockies, and a sweep isnt outlandish. Theyll then have a direct matchup with one of their top competitors, as they host the Padres for four games to close out the week. Theyll welcome the Marlins to Busch Stadium for the final three games before the deadline. Jhonny Pereda Jersey